[SydneyNicole]

Hello!
My dog is a 2 year old rescue terrier mix (30 lbs). I rescued him almost a year ago and he has always had some fear aggression and anxiety. Anytime I take him to the Vet he loses it and snips and growls so we have to muzzle him and drug him before bringing him into the Vet. It’s odd because he is such a loving dog to all people and other dogs. It is only when he feels trapped or scared when he acts like that. I’m looking into some training to help him but I was hoping someone might have some advice. I appreciate any advice or help. Thank you!!

 

[emeraldecho]

Given that the vet isn't the easiest place to work on reactivity, are there are other places the dog also acts fearful? Sometimes if you can help them overcome their fear of one thing, it makes the process easier next time.

 

[SydneyNicole]

Given that the vet isn't the easiest place to work on reactivity, are there are other places the dog also acts fearful? Sometimes if you can help them overcome their fear of one thing, it makes the process easier next time.

Hello, he really only gets scared/nervous when I try to groom or brush him. Other than that it’s the Vet because he doesn’t like things happening to him or feeling trapped. I do believe he had some traumatic experience that makes him fear these things.

 

[emeraldecho]

Sounds like it's a fear of being handled. You can probably improve the reaction to handling through grooming regularly. In your shoes, I'd do a few short grooming sessions every day. The key is to keep them short enough that you're done before your dog gets anxious. Depending on how anxious they are to begin, the first session could be as little as running the comb once through a knot-free section of fur, followed by a lot of praise.

 

[JoanneF]

Have a look at Chirag Patel's Bucket Game. It is about building trust and consensual handling.

This is the intro

 

[CachetheBC]

Hello!
My dog is a 2 year old rescue terrier mix (30 lbs). I rescued him almost a year ago and he has always had some fear aggression and anxiety. Anytime I take him to the Vet he loses it and snips and growls so we have to muzzle him and drug him before bringing him into the Vet. It’s odd because he is such a loving dog to all people and other dogs. It is only when he feels trapped or scared when he acts like that. I’m looking into some training to help him but I was hoping someone might have some advice. I appreciate any advice or help. Thank you!!

I had a 75 lb lab mix that was terrified of the vet/vet office, even heavily medicated he would pancake himself to the ground and 'shut down' as soon as we were able to coax him out of the car. Don't know if it is an option for you but we switched to having the vet come to the house for his vet appointments. We still needed to medicate and muzzle him, but it was less stressful/traumatizing for him.

 

[Beautiful Beasties]

Sounds like it's a fear of being handled. You can probably improve the reaction to handling through grooming regularly. In your shoes, I'd do a few short grooming sessions every day. The key is to keep them short enough that you're done before your dog gets anxious. Depending on how anxious they are to begin, the first session could be as little as running the comb once through a knot-free section of fur, followed by a lot of praise.

Spot on. Acclimate him to it. I also always try to turn whatever they're afraid of into a very fun thing that gets them their favorite things/food. That way they associate it with nothing but good things. My dog used to be terrified of the vacuum cleaner. Now he loves it thinking he's gonna get ham and it's gonna scratch his chest (his favorite).